Consumers’ Lust for Spending May Last Through Holidays, But Then?

Is it weariness of frugality? Cash coming out from under the mattress? Whatever the cause, consumers have in recent months upped their spending, giving the economy stronger growth that expected, even as businesses take a grimmer view of our prospects.

The surge of spending is good news, for now at least, for the likes of Wal-Mart (WMT), Amazon (AMZN), Macy’s (M), Gap (GPS), lululemon (LULU) and Target (TGT).

It wouldn’t seem sustainable, unless the banking sector started sending out no-questions-asked credit cards again. So add to the fiscal cliff ahead for the federal budget a U.S. consumer potentially pulling up lame in 2013.

From the editors of YCharts, which includes the just-released YCharts Pro Platinum for professional investors.